Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2005 Source: People's Tonight (Philippines) Copyright: Journal Group 2005 Contact: http://www.journal.com.ph/contactus.asp Website: http://www.journal.com.ph Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3454 Author: Raul S. Beltran Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Death+Penalty Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines TO BITAY OR NOT TO BITAY-- DAT IS DA KUWESTIYON THE decision by Malacanang to suspend the execution of 21 death convicts has rekindled the debate on capital punishment involving more than 1,000 criminals doomed to die by lethal injection. House leaders yesterday reiterated their opposing views on the issue which Congress temporarily shelved after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a moratorium on legal action in 2003. Rep. Joseph Santiago (NPC, Catanduanes) wanted President Arroyo to consider the mass commutation of the death sentences waiting over 1,000 convicts at the New Bilibid Prisons, including several Chinese nationals convicted of drug trafficking. Santiago, a crusader for the abolition of the death penalty, said the President should follow the example set by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin who signed a decree in 1999 commuting the death sentences of all 716 Russian prisoners awaiting execution. "We are under the impression Malacanang is reluctant to commute death sentences because the Chief Executive might be accused by death penalty supporters of committing an injustice or turning soft on crime," he said. "However, Malacanang will not be committing an injustice if it resorts to commutations. There is no injustice committed when a death sentence is modified to life in prison," Santiago pointed out. "The convict will still be punished, so the ends of justice will still be served." Santiago noted that more than 100 countries have done away with capital punishment "out of respect for the sanctity of human life." But Lakas Representatives Robert "Ace" Barbers (Surigao del Norte), Prospery Nograles Jr. (Davao City) and Juan Miguel Zubiri (Bukidnon) agreed that Malacanang should take a firm stand against criminality which they believed could be deterred by tough laws to include capital punishment. Barbers stressed the need to carry out the execution of convicted criminals whose death sentences have been affirmed by the Supreme Court. "They should begin with convicted drug traffickers, especially the aliens. They should not be merely executed by lethal injection. They should suffer the fate of Lim Seng," Barbers said, referring to the Chinese drug trafficker who was shot by firing squad in the early days of Martial Law in 1972. Nograles, a former human rights lawyer, explained that long imprisonment will not "necessarily reform hardened criminals. Zubiri said the government should carry out its duty to execute death convicts because of a law that mandates capital punishment for heinous crimes. "For every criminal granted a reprieve from the gallows, many others are emboldened to commit a crime with impunity," he pointed out, adding it "sends out the signal to the underworld that crime does pay. "It is an invitation to criminals to go on a rampage. A society under siege has the supreme right to protect itself and carrying out the death penalty is an act of self-defense." - ---